FOR Thailand’s Boonchan Chanloung and his family, the Winter Olympics once seemed like a distant dream that they are now fulfilling at the Beijing 2022. Boonchan’s son Mark Chanloung and daughter Karen Chanloung are competing in cross-country skiing for Thailand at the Beijing Olympics, while he himself serves as the team’s manager, and his Italian wife as the physiotherapist. “We came as a whole family of four. I’m afraid there might be few families like ours at the Games,” Boonchan told Xinhua. The Thai father once cycled 15,000 kilometers around Thailand in 126 days. Longing for ice and snow, he even planned to cycle from Thailand to Italy, his wife’s hometown. With her father’s influence, Karen started skiing at just 3 and began to focus on cross-country skiing when she was 10, while Mark began to take part in various skiing competitions at the age of 12. The Italian-born brother and sister made their Olympic debut in cross-country skiing at Pyeongchang 2018. Together with two other athletes, they reached a new high in the number of Thai participants in the Winter Olympic Games. (Xinhua) | 